I appreciate your patience with my blog posts as I try and find the time to write them to keep you all informed!  I'm approaching the one month mark on my journey here in Romania.  As I said before, the moment I stepped off the plane in Bucharest I felt right at home.  There's an inner peace that I've never quite experienced before and I know that's because I'm finally living out what the Lord has called me to do and that requires me to put all my trust in Him.

There are still many different areas/locations with Outstretched Hands of Romania that I haven't had the opportunity to serve in, but within the next 5 months I should be able to get my feet wet in a lot of them.  I've found that I really enjoy spending time at the Hope Center working with the children and helping in the kitchen.  This past Tuesday, I went to Chiselet and shared part of my testimony at the young girls meeting.  I didn't have much time to prepare so I relied on the Holy Spirit to lead me and give me the words that would be heard by this group of young women, ranging from 13 to 20 years old.  After the meeting was finished, there were a few of the young ladies that thanked me for sharing and talked with me about how what I said stirred some thing in their hearts...I'm very much looking forward to going back to Chiselet and spending more time with them.

In the midst of the inner peace and walking out this call on my life, I have come upon some struggles.  My health has been like a roller-coaster since I arrived.  One day I'll feel fine and the next I can't breath, my throat hurts, not to mention the cough I've acquired and the random body aches.  My joints in my hands have continued to flare up and cause issues, but nothing the Lord can't take care of! :-)  I was expecting some physical issues, as that's usually part of traveling and adjusting to a new environment, but I've also found an internal struggle that I wasn't expecting...

There's a war raging for my heart.  A war to take over my mind and consume my soul.  The last few weeks I've struggled with issues I buried long ago that have waited until now to resurface.  The enemy wants to strip me of the inner peace I've come to know.  I struggle with the vulnerability of asking for help and prayers, but since I've been here I've been stepping out in faith and allowing others to enter in to those places I've kept hidden for so long.  That's why I can be transparent with all of you reading this now, that despite sharing all the joy and peace I've been experiencing, I can also share my struggles with you.  

As I've been reflecting on these recent mountains I'm facing, I began to think about another war.  A war that involves all of you.  A war against our Faith.  A war against our God.  A war against all Christians.  At church the last couple of weeks we've discussed Galatians 5:13 (In reference to my web address for my blog: coincidence...I think not! More affirmation that I'm on God's path for my life and not my own...) "For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.  But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.  Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love."  When reading this Scripture, I think about how easy it is to satisfy our sinful nature and to live by the flesh, especially when we look around us and what the world says is acceptable.  Have faith though!  If you continue reading in Galatians 5:24 it says this: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there."  Did you catch that?  Our sinful nature has been nailed to Jesus' cross and has been paid for with His blood!  Have you let that sink in?  Keep in mind that it's a daily decision that we need to make.  Are we going to live by our flesh or are we going to live a righteous life that will make others want to know Jesus?  We have been called to be the foot-soldiers in this epic battle to bring the Truth.  My internal mountains seem like foothills when it comes to this war that rages against us all.  But I take heart in knowing that our resurrected King has defeated death and this same King, that knows me by name, has called me to be His disciple and spread the Good News throughout the world!  So my question to you is: are you His foot-soldier?

I want to thank all of you for your continued support and encouragement.  Despite my struggles, the Lord is continuing to reveal things to me while I'm here.  I believe that because I've been removed from my comfort zone, I'm more inclined to hear Him.  I will faithfully pursue His heart and His will for my life.  I'm prepared for battle and will faithfully stand in the trenches to fight against the enemy and be a foot-soldier in the army of my Savior! (I encourage you to read Ephesians 6:10-18 and speak that over your life so you'll be prepared too!)  I love you all!  

I left Chicago at 9:20 p.m. on 3-3-14.  I arrived on Romanian soil at 6:20 p.m. 3-4-14.  As Brad said: "I Marched Fourth" into Romania! (followed by a "what took you so long!" lol).  I have been here for a week now and can honestly say that my life will never be the same.  I encourage you to click on the Outstretched Hands logo...it will direct you to their website and you can read their mission statement, goals and accomplishments.  It truly is a wonderful organization and I'm so honored to be working with them for the next 6 months.   

I have been welcomed with open arms by the Outstretched Hands of Romania family.  Everyone has been so warm and inviting!  I have two wonderful roommates that have been extremely kind, very helpful with the many questions I've been asking, understanding with the jet-lag and have graciously helped me with the language.  It can be difficult having the language barrier, but I'm faithfully praying for a breakthrough in this area and I know that I serve a God that makes the impossible, possible!  Despite slight communication issues, I've found that it hasn't hindered my ability to serve.

So far I've been able to go to the Hope Center and work with the children and, to no surprise, have already fallen in love with them!  I've gone to Chiselet twice to take pictures and meet the people.  When I was here in 2007 we only spent a day in this town and it's changed quite a bit.  The Open Door Church is newly built and once the weather isn't as rainy, I'll take some pictures to show you what that looks like.  You walk inside and you can just feel God's presence.

March 8th was Women's Day/Mother's Day in Romania so there were a lot of celebrations this weekend.  At the Hope Center on Thursday, I helped the children make a craft to give to their mom's.  On Friday, I went with one of my roommates to the Caramidari school to watch some children (probably around the 3rd or 4th grade I would say) put on a small presentation for the women in their lives.  It was so sweet!  One of the girls (who I helped with her English the day prior) was just so kind and kept telling me how much she loved me and how beautiful I was (this could have been the only English she felt comfortable speaking, but regardless it made my night)!  She had me go up to receive the gift she made for her mom.  Her mother was unable to attend because she's in a different country working right now.

The evening of the 8th, I went to Chiselet to the Women's Meeting where we honored the women of the community.  I had such a wonderful time capturing their smiles and interactions with each other!  My roommate was looking through the photos I took and pointed this one out to me.  She said it was one of her favorites so I thought I'd share it with all of you as well.  The woman pictured has 20 grandchildren and I was able to snap this as they announced that.  I love the emotion I was able to capture with her slight grin and smiling eyes.  The joy in some of the others around her give you a small glimpse of what the atmosphere felt like that night.  Simply Beautiful. 

Yesterday (3.9.14) I went to the Bethany church in Calarasi in the morning.  Brad introduced me so I stood up and waved to everyone as my face turned red :)  Brad and Nora gave the message on family and parenting.  He started with Proverbs 22:6 "Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it."  They spoke about how Christians are good at getting  children to church, but not good at discipling to them.  Once children turn 18, somewhere around 80% leave the church.  They focused on why that is and how parents can help change that.  They also spoke about their accomplishments and failures as Christian parents, and in this particular message, really called out to the fathers of the church.  He also really stressed the importance of involving your children in whatever the Lord has called you to do.  

Keeping with the weekend celebration of Woman/Mothers, we went back to the Open Door Church for their church service in the evening.  Brad spoke about Eve and how God created woman.  He spoke about singleness and waiting for the man God has for you (which is a good thing to be reminded of since I fall into this category...).  Brad also addressed how men should treat women, especially their mother's and wives.  In the Romanian Gypsy culture they do not express emotion.  They very seldom say I love you or thank you.  This was something Brad and Nicu (Pastor of the Open Door Church) were really focusing on.  They were encouraging everyone that was there last night to speak words of thanks and love to their mother's (and/or wives).  They had a mic for people to get up and speak.  Out of everyone that spoke only 3 Romanian men got up to say something.  They all cried and it was very moving...regardless of it only being 3 men, it's still progress.  After the service was done, there was an accordion player and Brad had me take pictures of each family that was there.  The pictures will be printed this week and given to them at the next service.  It was a blessing to see all of this unfold behind my lens.

Today I helped Nora go shopping for the group of 50 Norwegians that will be arriving tomorrow for 6 days.  Outstretched Hands has never had a group of this quantity visit all at one time, so it will be quite the learning experience for our team.  I'm very excited to see what the next week will bring and the new people I'll be meeting.  

It's rained almost every day I've been here and it's only been in the 40's.  The weather will be nicer this week so I'm also looking forward to the sunshine and 50's! :)  (Sorry to all my Wisco people...I hear you're going to get some more cold weather after some warmth you've experienced today)  

Thank you everyone for your prayers and words of encouragement!  I have felt right at home since I've arrived.  I ask for continued prayers for my spiritual walk, understanding/speaking of the language and for my health (specifically my joints in my right pinky finger and right ring finger as well as my breathing).  I have been blessed beyond measure by all of you and although you're not physically here with me in Romania, I hope you know that you're all apart of this journey- through your prayers, encouragement and financial support.  I pray that as you read this post (and all my future ones) it would ignite the same fire that's been ignited within me, for all of us to be the hands and feet of Christ.  

This is just the beginning of an amazing Journey God has called me on.  Stay tuned to see what else He has in store for me :)

Be Blessed!
xoxo,
Becky